New puppy

[inappropriatelyemployed]

We are collecting our new puppy in a couple of weeks.

I have a couple of questions (to start with!):

1. the breeder has been using ready made raw food meals but I am not sure we want to continue this. Is it best to do so while the puppy settles and then make any change as he gets a bit older?

1. in terms of puppy socialisation etc, I know he needs to be carried around until he's had his jabs. Sorry if this is a bit silly but what do you do if you are out and about carrying the dog and he needs to wee/poo if you can't put them down?

Thanks

@inappropriatelyemployed
Lots of advice, where to start!

1. definitely get them used to their crate/pen as soon as possible
2. make their crate/ pen a happy place
3. stick at crate training, even thou you feel like throwing the towel in definitely stick at it. We were so close to caving however Holly loves her crate/pen area and will happily go in it with no problems :) Holly's crate and pen is in the kitchen so is away from us upstairs.
4. get them used to toileting outside as soon as possible. As soon as we got Holly back from the breeders we put her straight outside to go to the toilet, we have never had to use puppy pads. She gets us up in the night but only to go to the toilet which I would rather. At first this was every two hours and me and my husband were like walking zombies but the last couple of nights we have let her out at 10.30/11pm and she has only got us up at 5.30/6am which we are really pleased at! Try to have a code word for them going to the toilet and use that as soon as possible, when we take Holly outside we say 'go toilet'.
5. definitely puppy proof your garden, they will chew literally anything and everything!
6. stock up on plenty of toys all with different textures!
7. get them used to their collar and lead as soon as possible
8. Holly got car sick a few times on her first few journeys therefore have plenty of towels!

Overall good luck! It is tough at times and there will be moments when you question if you have done the right thing but it does get easier and is very rewarding and we love little Holly to pieces! Get in touch anytime happy to help :)

Brilliant thank you so much!

What type of collar did you get to start with? There is so much choice!

@inappropriatelyemployed
We bought a collar and lead from pets at home before we picked Holly up however it was hard to choose one without her physically being there. Once we had picked her up we took her to pets at home and got a collar and harness fitted for her :) we bought an ezydog collar and harness :)

I have a 6 month old Golden. You will be shocked how fast they grow!

I carried mine around as much as possible but they are very heavy puppies. I found a few short trips standing outside a supermarket or in a dog friendly cafe worked great. Take tiny treats and keep things short and positive.

Oh I'm so jealous!! We have a golden retriever who is now 3, he's such a joy to be around. We bought a smaller crate for when he was a puppy and then bought a bigger one when he grew as he grew so that he didn't want to soil his bed space. We feed him the closest we can get to raw feeding without having to feed raw as it seems a minefield to us and it makes going away harder. We feed gentle food, they have a website and it explains all about it. If you are going to switch, make sure you do it gradually over a week or so, so a little bit with his raw food and build up to 50:50 and then to full. If you want any house training tips, please feel free to ask! Archie got it really quickly and we only ever had two accidents in the house. Good luck!

Oh yes and pets at home is great for socialisation too!

Thanks so much everyone. It really helps to get advice from those who've been there!

Two accidents - wow. What are you top toilet training tips then?

We did similar to @Hjb2410, we didn't use puppy pads at all and just let him out every hour and had a code word 'hurry up'. He still responds to it now if we say it to him before a long car journey etc. We also set our alarm to let him out in the night for the first couple of weeks but he soon learnt to sleep through. Oh it's such a magical time, a bit of hard work but all worth it in the end!

I think my top tip on toilet training is that there are no short cuts. You have to be the one leading the way for your puppy and if you leave it too long, or think you can just let them out in the garden and not stand out there with them, you will be the one mopping up. Puppy pads are rubbish. Take them out when they wake up, when they've just had a drink/food, and every 45 minutes when they are awake.

Get a big waterproof warm coat that is easy to slip on, covered in crocs, a head torch and a warm dressing gown. Set everything up so you can get it on asap. Standing in the rain at 2am waiting for a pup to wee is made a little less unpleasant by not being cold or wet

I use dog bells on the back door which the puppies (I foster for a rescue, so toilet train every 3 weeks or so) learn to ring really quickly when they want to go out.

Our puppy wees readily in the garden but this weather is wrecking his toilet training. Torrential rain and the grass is so long and wet, he turns round and runs back to the door.
He’s not so good with pooing outdoors. When I see him about to wee or poo indoors I can’t get him outside quick enough andI have to put him down to get a coat and shoes on. It’s so much harder than the experts say!

Thanks all.

So in the night do you wake them up to go out?

To start with I set my alarm for 2am and took her outside. I didn't want her to get into the habit of barking to wake me up. I've been there and have the t-shirt.

Sorry name change which u can undo for some reason?? But I am OP!

D-day tomorrow!

Picking up in the morning,

Panicking about so much!

Do you use the crate the first night?

Will the pup sleep in it?

What happens if they won't?

Do,you sleep by the crate?

Do you wake pup up in night to toilet or just get up if they wake you?

Do you take it outside on a leads? Pictures it legging off in dark!

Help!!!

We used the crate from the first night. It had a soft blanket in and I just sort of stuffed him in there at bedtime with the blanket he came home in. I put it next to our bed and for the first couple of nights I woke him up every 3 hours and took him out the garden. It was a struggle to get him out of the crate (we used a small travel crate and had to take it apart to extract a puppy who didn't want to come out!) I carried him downstairs and out to the garden and put him down at which point he sort of tottered around and cried a bit and I waited 10 mins. Mostly he would eventually wee.
After a few nights I decided not to to wake him and spent all night half awake in case he needed me (worried he'd pee in his crate and get bad habits!) He then only woke once - about 2am and cried so I took him out then and he wee'd fairly quickly.

I let him in the garden without a lead from day 1. Getting him to wear a collar and lead took practice and he hated it at first! I used a torch at first but then hubby put up some motion activated solar lights that help.

Buddy took a few days to get inquisitive and brave enough to get far in the house and garden. I didn't lose him at night!

I know there is a window for socialisation experiences which closes when they are 16 weeks

OP, just wanted to clarify this - just so that it takes the pressure off you a bit. There is indeed a period during which dogs socialise to new people/animals/things more easily but it may help to realise it's not a window that shuts closed at 16 weeks. A dog can be socialised at any point during it's life - it's just that it accepts new experiences more readily the younger it is.

Please don't think of it as a 'now or never' scenario where if you don't introduce the dog to every type of experience before 16 weeks then you've missed your chance. Socialisation can still happen at a later date and, indeed, there is some truth in the saying that no experience is better than a bad experience when they are this young.

Lots of different, fun experiences at the dog's own pace is key...

In answer to some of your other questions:

On the first night I put him in the crate and put the crate by my bed. For the first 15mins he howled and I just sat outside the crate door repeating "settled down" in a soothing manner. When he settled I got into bed and repeated this all again but with my hand down/fingers poking into the crate. I kept saying "settled down, shush now" in a gentle voice and slowly withdrew my hand. It worked a treat and even months later I can use "settle down" as a cue for him to do so. He cried when he needed to toilet so woke me up.

I never used a lead in the garden and the puppy never legged off in the dark - in would take a very brave puppy indeed to do so. They are also pretty sleepy so not awake enough to scarper. In fact, letting them off lead even on walks, when very young is brilliant because they will literally stick like glue to your side and so gives them a good foundation for off lead walking. I let my springer off lead from about 12 weeks old and he would not be more than about 2 metres away from me. We spent lots of time with me running away from him, him catching me up and then getting lots of lovely treats. I understand it takes some bravery to do so - find a nice big, open field - but it is really worth doing.

p.s. Hope you are all enjoying d-day

Great advice, thank you so much. He is at home, sleeping in his crate!

We took him straight outside when we got home and he eventually had a poo - yay! But no wee. He's asleep now but we picked him at 11 and I thought he'd be bursting!

oh. my. gawd.

that pup is CUTE

Thanks! He is loving his crate too!

@inappropriatelyemployed so cute! Hope he's settling in well :) x

Gorgeous puppy.